Remote control device

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides a remote control device having a track pad unit, an operational panel for remote-controlling an electronics device and a control means for controlling the operational panel in accordance with position data acquired by the track pad unit.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a remote control device which utilizesa track pad as one of the pointing devices.

2. Brief Description of the Related Art

Remote control operations by a remote control device shown in FIG. 41have been widely performed, when electronic apparatuses equipped withdisplay devices such as a TV set and the like are operated by utilizingthe remote control device.

Recently a system in which a TV set, a VTR set, a stereophonic set andthe like are mutually connected via a network interface prescribed byIEEE1394 and they are controlled by a remote control system equipped inthe TV set, is proposed. In the above-mentioned system, operating panelsof other sets not equipped with display units, are displayed on adisplay unit of the TV set.

In the above-mentioned system it is necessary to control operations of aplurality of sets by one remote control device attached to a controlunit such as the TV set or the like.

In this case the remote control device shown in FIG. 41 is widelyemployed as a means for operating various sets having differentfunctions simply and uniformly. A desired operation is selected suchthat a cursor is moved by up/down or left/right moving keys of theremote control device and the selected operation is executed by anexecution key of the remote control device, which is a usual operatingsteps by the conventional remote control device.

However, since several pushing operations of the cursors are requiredbefore selecting the desired operation in the above-mentioned remotecontrol device, a considerable time is required for selecting steps sothat a good maneuverability can not be attained.

A remote control device, which employs a track pad capable of inputtingon position data and selecting a desired key by tracing a finger on thetrack pad, is proposed so as to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks.

However, since the above-mentioned remote control device can notidentify a currently connected set (an operational panel to bedisplayed) and a proper operational method and when shapes of theoperational panel to be displayed and the track pad are different, thereremain the following drawbacks to be solved.

a) A positional relation between the track pad and the operating panelis not clear.

b) When a whole area of the track pad is allocated to the operationalpanel, operational feelings differ in up/down direction and left/rightdirection.

c) When a numeric panel for selecting a TV channel and a full key boardpanel are spread on a track pad with the same size, moving speeds ofkeys on the respective operational panels corresponding to a movingspeed of the finger are quite different, particularly the moving speedof the full key board panel is too fast to operate so that amaneuverability of the track pad is poor.

Although Japanese laid open patent No. 10-11288 proposes a remotecontrol method utilizing the track pad, it is not such an inventioncapable of solving the above-mentioned drawbacks.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to overcome the above-describeddrawbacks.

Another objet of the present invention is to provide a remote controldevice capable of attaining more intuitive and easier operations than inconventional remote control devices.

A remote control device, as one of the preferred embodiments by thepresent inventions, is a device having a track pad unit, an operationalpanel for remote-controlling an electronics device and a control meansfor controlling the operational panel in accordance with position dataacquired by the track pad unit.

Still other objects, features and advantages of the present inventionwill become fully apparent from the following detailed description ofthe preferred embodiments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main arrangement of an operationalcontrol system in embodiment 1.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an arrangement of a TV set inembodiment 1.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a main arrangement of a remote controldevice in embodiment 1.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a main arrangement of a VTR set inembodiment 1.

FIG. 5 is a view showing one example of the remote control devices inembodiments by the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a view showing another example of the remote control devicesin embodiments by the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a schematic sectional view showing an arrangement of a trackpad portion of the remote control in embodiments by the presentinvention.

FIG. 8 is a table showing a constitution of an operational panel inembodiments by the present embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a relational table between the operational panel and the trackpad in embodiments by the present invention.

FIG. 10 shows a screen of the TV set where an image and an icon of aconnected device set are displayed in embodiment 1.

FIG. 11 shows the screen of the TV set where a TV channel selectingpanel is displayed in embodiment 1.

FIG. 12 is a table showing a constitution of the TV channel selectingpanel in embodiments by the present invention.

FIGS. 13S, A, B and C show operational steps on the TV channel selectingpanel in embodiment 1.

FIG. 14 shows the screen of the TV set immediately after a TV channel isselected in embodiment 1.

FIG. 15 shows the screen of the TV set where a VTR set operational panelis displayed in embodiment 1.

FIG. 16 is a table showing a constitution of the VTR set operationalpanel in embodiment 1.

FIGS. 17M, N, P and Q show operational steps on the VTR set operationalpanel in embodiment 1 (part 1).

FIGS. 18R, S and D show operational steps on the VTR set operationalpanel in embodiment 1 (part 2).

FIG. 19 shows the screen of the TV set immediately after a replay buttonof the VTR operational panel is pushed in embodiment 1.

FIG. 20 shows an initial and transitional statuses of the track pad whenan operational panel having a deformed shape is allocated in embodiment2.

FIG. 21 is a flow chart showing operational steps of an operationalpanel control routine.

FIG. 22 shows the screen of the TV set where the VTR set operationalpanel is displayed in embodiment 3.

FIGS. 23U, V and WW show operational steps for the VTR set in embodiment3.

FIG. 24 shows the screen of the TV set where an image and an icon of aconnected device set are displayed in embodiment 4.

FIGS. 25A, B and C are views for explaining an allocated relationbetween the TV channel selecting panel and the track pad in embodiment4.

FIG. 26 shows the screen of the TV set where a keyboard operationalpanel is displayed in embodiment 4.

FIG. 27 is a table showing a constitution of the keyboard operationalpanel in embodiment 4.

FIGS. 27A, B and C are views for explaining an allocated relationbetween the whole keyboard operational panel and the track pad inembodiment 4.

FIGS. 28A, B and C are views for explaining statuses where keyboardoperational panel is partially allocated on the track pad in embodiment4.

FIGS. 29A, B and C are views for explaining operational statuses of thekeyboard operational panel in embodiment 4 (part 1).

FIGS. 30A, B, C and D are views for explaining operational statuses ofthe keyboard operational panel in embodiment 4 (part 2).

FIG. 31 is a flow chart showing control steps of the operational panelin embodiment 4 (for selecting operational modes).

FIG. 32 is a flow chart showing control steps of the operational panelin embodiment 4 (for a fixed mode).

FIG. 33 is a flow chart showing control steps of the operational panelin embodiment 4 (for a scroll combined mode).

FIG. 34 is a table showing a constitution of EPG data in embodiment 5.

FIG. 35 shows a displayed example of the EPG in embodiment 5.

FIG. 36 shows the screen of the TV set where an EPG panel is displayedin embodiment 5.

FIG. 37 is a table showing a constitution of the EPG panel in embodiment5.

FIGS. 38A and B show an operational status of the EPG panel inembodiment 5 (part 1).

FIGS. 39A and B show an operational status of the EPG panel inembodiment 5 (part 2).

FIGS. 40A and B show an operational status of the EPG panel inembodiment 5 (part 3).

FIG. 41 is a view showing an arrangement of a conventional remotecontrol device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiment 1

Hereinafter embodiment 1 by the present invention is explained asreferring to drawings.

FIG. 1 is the block diagram showing the whole operational control systemin embodiment 1.

A reference numeral “1” is a TV set for receiving TV broadcast, fortransmitting/receiving remote control signals and data to/from devicesets connected to the network and for controlling the connected devicesets and the like. Further the TV set 1 displays received TV image data,images of device sets, various icons, control information and the like.

A reference numeral “2” is a remote control device for controlling andoperating the TV set 1, a VTR set 3 and the like by a TV viewer. The VTRset 3 records and replays TV programs and other video and audio data.

The VTR set 3 can record and read out device information data foroperating the VTR set 3 and these data can be inputted and outputted viaa TV receiver arranged in the VTR set 3 and a network s1 which will beexplained below.

The network s1 is connected to TV set 1 and VTR set 3 fortransmitting/receiving data and a network based on the IEEE 1394standard is employed as the network s1 in the present invention.

A Reference character “s2” is a telephone line for connecting the systemto external devices via TV set 1.

FIG. 2 is the block diagram showing the arrangement of the TV set 1.

A reference numeral “4” is an antenna unit for high frequency electricalsignals which are transmitted to a tuner unit 101.

The tuner unit 101 amplifies the received high frequency TV signals fromthe antenna unit 4, selects a desired TV station, demodulates themodulated high frequency TV signals by a carrier wave and transforms thedemodulated TV signals into digital stream (hereinafter referred as TS(Transport Stream)) data.

A reference numeral “102” is a decoder unit for selecting a desiredprogram TS data among the above-mentioned TS data, for separatingadditional data such as charged account (hereinafter referred as CA)data, electronic program guide (hereinafter referred as EPG) data andthe like and for decoding the selected TS data. Sound data decoded fromthe TS data is transmitted to a sound control unit 105, image data istransmitted to an image control unit 103 and other data are outputted toa bus s3 if necessary.

Video signals outputted from the tuner unit 101 are inputted to thedecoder unit 102 and separated into brightness signals, color signals,audio signals and remaining other data and digitized thereon. Thedigitized brightness signals and color signals are transmitted to theimage control unit 103, the digitized sound data are transmitted to thesound control unit 105 and the remaining other data are outputted to thebus s3.

The image control unit 103 selects or combine the image data from thedecoder unit 102 and image data transmitted via the bus s3 and outputsthese data to a display unit 104 in forms of digital RGB image data,horizontally and vertically synchronized signals.

The inputted digital RGB data, horizontally and vertically synchronizedsignals are displayed on the display unit 104 as an image. A dot-matrixdisplay with a vertical resolution of 1080 or more and a horizontalresolution of 1920 or more is employed as the display unit in thepresent invention.

The sound control unit 105 selects or combine sound data from thedecoder unit 102 and the internal bus s3 and controls volume, quality,presence and the like of the selected or combined sound data, which areoutputted to a sound output unit 106.

The sound output unit 106 converts the inputted digital sound data fromthe sound control unit 105 to analog signals, which are amplified andoutputted from a loud speaker unit.

A reference numeral “107” is a 1394 I/F based on the IEEE1394 standard.The 1394 I/F controls and administers a high speed serial I/F, andexchanges data between the TV set 1 and VTR set 3 via the bus s1.

A reference numeral “108” is a modem used for exchanging data between TVset 1 and external device sets via the telephone line s2. For example,the modem 108 is used for transmitting audience information to anadministrating server to charge accounts to audiences and for connectingthe TV set 1 to Internet providers.

A reference numeral “109” is a remote control signal receiving unit,which receives data from the remote control device operated by a TVviewer and transmits the received data to a system control unit 110.

The system control unit 110 controls the whole units connected to thebus s3 in the TV set 1.

When a viewer select a TV program, the antenna unit 4, the tuner unit101 and the decoder unit 102 are controlled by the system control unit110 for selecting a TV channel and for controlling the CA and EPG data.

The image control unit 103 is also controlled by the system control unit110 so as to control data from the decoder unit 102, images from the VTRset 3, icons and various information for displaying on the screen of theTV set 1.

In the same way, the sound control unit 105 is controlled so as tosynthesize sounds and control outputting sounds.

The system control unit 110 also controls the 1394I/F 107 so that theVTR set 3 connected to the network s1 is controlled for exchanging datavia the network s1.

The system control unit 110 controls not always the unit mentioned aboveaccording to a status of the TV set 1 and information from the 1394I/F107 and from the modem 108, but also analyzes key code data from theremote control signal receiving unit 109 and controls various unitsaccording to the analyzed key code data.

The system control unit 110 also decides whether the operational paneldisplayed in the display unit 104 is in a moving state, in a touchedstate by a finger or in a pressed state for execution according toposition data of the track pad and pressure data on the track pad forcontrolling various units according to the decided state.

The bus s3 is an internal bus arranged inside the TV set 1 functioningas a data exchange and control bus used for transmitting image data,sound data and information data on various units.

A memory unit 111 is a buffer memory to store inputted data andinformation via the internal bus s3 temporally such as additional dataon a digital TV program such as the EPG data, control informationgenerated in the TV set 1 and various information inputted from the1394I/F 107 and the modem 108.

FIG. 3 is the block diagram showing the main arrangement of the remotecontrol device. FIG. 5 shows an appearance of the remote control device.

A reference numeral “201” in FIG. 3 is a key button unit, from which aviewer selects a key for executing a desired operation.

A power key depicted at an upper left position in FIG. 5 is used forswitching on/off a power source of the remote control device. TV, BS,VTR and CS keys depicted at the right side of the power key are keys fordisplaying operational menus of respective inputting sources. When theVTR key is pressed without connecting the VTR set 3 to the TV set 1, awarning message is displayed in the screen of the TV set 1. A menu keypositioned below the power key is used for various settings in the TVset 1 and displaying an operational menu. One of the menu items in theoperational menu is decided or changed by cursor keys, an execution keyor a cancel key positioned below the menu key.

A reference numeral “202” is a track pad having a rectangular shape asshown at the bottom of FIG. 5. The track pad is touched, moved as beingtouched or pressed by a finger so as to operate the TV set 1 and thelike.

The track pad 202 has a structure shown in FIG. 7 such that X electrodesand Y electrodes made of pressure sensitive elements, are arrangedperpendicularly each other so as to form a lattice structure, over whicha cover sheet is spread. A remote control unit 204 scans the latticemade of X and Y electrodes and detects voltage changes so that positionstouched by a finger are detected.

A reference numeral “203” is a data transceiver unit, which transmitskey data and position data of the track pad to the remote control signalreceiving unit 109 in the TV set 1 and so forth.

The remote control unit 204 scans the key button unit 201, detects apressed key, encodes a key code of the detected key, transmits the keycode to the TV set 1 and receives a response and the like from the TVset 1.

As mentioned above, the remote control unit 204 scan the track pad 202,detects whether the track pad is pressed or not and whether a pressureon the track pad is changed or not, and outputs corresponding positiondata and pressure data via the data transceiver unit 203.

FIG. 4 is the block diagram showing the main arrangement of a digitaltape recorder (hereinafter referred as VTR) equipped with the 1394I/F.

A reference numeral “301” is a VTR unit such as a video camcordercomprising a video tape running mechanism, a video tape running controlunit, a video signal demodulating and modulating unit and variousconversion units, which are controlled by a VTR control unit 305.

A reference numeral “302” is a 1394I/F similar to the above-mentioned1394I/F 107, which controls the bus s1 and data exchanges in the VTR set3.

A reference numeral “303” is a configuration ROM in which data proper tothe VTR set such as a manufacturer of the VTR set, a VTR set name, atype, a manufacturing number, a manufactured date, version data ofsoftware in the VTR control unit 305, category data and the like.

A reference numeral “304” is a data ROM in which operational panel dataare stored for displaying information on operational statues of the VTRset 3 on the screen of the TV set 1 via the bus s1.

The VTR control unit 305 controls the VTR unit 301 based on VTR controlinformation transmitted via the bus s1 and the 1394I/F 302, and readsout displayed data on the operational panel from the data ROM 304according to a controlling status and transmits the read out data to theTV set 1 via the 1394I/F and the bus s1.

Hereinafter a structure of the operational panel by the presentinvention is explained.

The constitution of the operational panel is shown in FIG. 8.

Data displayed as the operational panel on the screen of the TV set 1are a set of elements displayed as operational circumstances. Everyelement has its proper ID.

A panel element is a set of elements of the operational panel and holdsa row of element IDs included in the panel.

The panel element also can hold data on a panel size bit map of a panelbackground and the like.

A button element can be pressed or released by a user via the remotecontrol device and holds bit map data, positions, sizes and the likewhen pressed and released statuses respectively.

The button element also holds operating data at a time when the trackpad is pressed or released.

An icon element displays a bit map and can be selected by a user. Itholds bit map data, position, size and the like. The icon element alsoholds operating data at a time when the icon is selected.

A text element displays a title and an explanation in character linesand holds data on position and size, text data used as a label,background color data, font data and the like.

The above-mentioned position means a relative position specified bypixels in a panel element to which each element belongs.

Hereinafter operations by using the track pad are explained.

A relational table between the operational panel and the track pad shownin FIG. 9 is prepared in the TV set 1 and the system control unit 110respectively so as to relate touched positions to corresponding elementsof the operational panel.

The relational table indicates corresponding areas in the track pad 202allocated to the operational panel and respective elements. A newrelational table corresponding to a newly activated operational panel isgenerated every time when the new operational panel is activated andreplaced with the former relational table.

Corresponding operations to respective elements in the operational paneland a focusing operation (which will be explained below) are executed inaccordance with the above-mentioned relational table, when the track padis touched, pressed or released by a user.

Hereinafter operational steps are explained.

FIG. 10 shows a displayed image in the screen of the TV set 1 in thesystem shown in FIG. 1. The displayed image (illustrating a man and acar) is an image from a TV program from channel 1 indicated at a lowerleft corner in FIG. 10 and a VTR icon is displayed at a lower rightcorner in FIG. 10 indicating that the connected VTR set 3 is switchedon.

The VTR icon is not displayed when the VTR set 3 is switched off.

Hereinafter operations for selecting TV channels in a case when a shapeof the track pad is similar to a shape of the operational panel.

FIG. 21 is the flowchart showing operating steps of the operationalpanel controlled by the operational panel control routine.

A first case when a TV viewer selects a TV channel is explained.

When the TV button of the remote control device in FIG. 5 is pressed,the corresponding key data to the pressed key is transmitted from theremote control device 2, and received by the remote control signalreceiving unit 109 of the TV set 1.

When the system control unit 110 of the TV set 1 detects the receivedkey data, a TV channel selecting panel is read out from the memory unit111 and outputted to the image control unit 3. The image control unit 3activates the corresponding operational panel and indicates to display asynthesized image in the display unit 104.

FIG. 11 shows the screen of the TV set at a time when the TV channelselecting panel is displayed.

The TV channel selecting panel consists of 12 numeric buttons from 1 to12 arranged in a matrix with 4 lines by 3 rows. Position data ofrespective numeric buttons are related to the above-mentioned matrix.

The table in FIG. 12 shows the constitution of the TV channel selectingpanel.

The shape of the TV channel selecting panel is similar to the shape ofthe track pad shown in FIG. 5 or FIG. 6.

Hereinafter operational steps are explained as referring to FIG. 21. Theoperational panel control routine in the system control unit 110 watcheswhether the operational panel is activated or not (step S2102). When theoperational panel control routine detects that the operational panel isactivated, a relational table between the operational panel and thetrack pad is generated according to position data of respective elementsin the TV channel selecting panel so as to divide the track pad into thematrix with 4 lines by 3 rows consisting of area A to area L as shown inFIG. 13S. Thus areas A to L in the track pad can be corresponded tobuttons in the operational panel (step S2103).

The operational panel control routine watches whether the track pad istouched by a finger or not (step S2104).

When the track pad is touched by the finger, touched pressure data andtouched position data from the remote control device 2 are received bythe remote control signal receiving unit 109. The operational panelcontrol routine in the system control unit 110 detects the touchedposition of the track pad based on the received position data anddetermines a corresponding button of the operational panel based on therelational table between the operational panel and the track pad (stepS2105).

The button corresponding to the touched position is changed in its colorand its character display (hereinafter referred as focusing) in order tolet a TV viewer recognize the corresponding button is selected. Thus theoperator can confirm the focussed button in the operational panel (stepS2106).

The changed color and character display are returned to the previousstatuses, when the finger is released from the track pad.

When the finger touches position A in FIG. 13S, button “3” in theoperational panel is focused as shown in FIG. 13A. In the same waybutton “10” is focused when the finger touches position B as shown inFIG. 13B.

Buttons in the operational panel are re-allocated to the track pad basedon the touched position so as to utilize the track pad area as large aspossible by keeping the similar shape relation between the operationalpanel and the track pad as before (step S2107).

Since the shapes of the operational panel and the track pad are similarin the present embodiment, re-allocated relations between buttons of theoperational panel and areas of the track pad are kept the same relationsas in Step S2103. Consequently, the whole area of the track padcorrespond to the operational panel and the relational table between theoperational panel and the track pad is not changed.

The re-allocating step is executed only when the track pad is touchedfirstly, but not executed as far as the finger in not released from thetrack pad.

The operational panel control routine watches touched pressure data andtouched position data received from the remote control device 2 so as todetect whether the touching finger is moved, presses a button, releasedor kept its position as it is (steps S2108, S2109 and S2110).

When the operational panel control routine decides touching finger ismoved, a currently touched position of the track pad is detected basedon position data (step S2112).

The currently touched position is judged whether it is in an operationalarea of the re-allocated TV channel selecting panel on the track pad ornot, based on the relational table between the operational panel and thetrack pad (step S2113). When the touched position is judged to be out ofthe operational area, the operational panel is re-allocated (stepS2114).

As mentioned above, since the TV channel selecting panel is allocated tothe whole area of the track pad, the re-allocation steps are notrequired in the present embodiment.

When the touched position is judged in the operational area, thecorresponding button is confirmed and then focused.

When the finger is moved from position B to position C as shown in FIG.13C as the track pad is kept being touched, the finger moves from area Jvia area K to area L of the track pad. Consequently, a focused button inthe TV selecting panel is moved from button 10 via button 11 and finallyto button 12 as shown in FIG. 13C (step S2115).

Since shapes of the TV channel selecting panel and the track pad aresimilar each other, a required moving distance of the finger in thetrack pad is the same in horizontal and vertical directions for movingthe focused button in the operating panel by a unit distance.

When a pressure change on the track pad is detected, a status is judgedwhether the finger is pressing downward or releasing (step S2116). Whenthe focused button is decided to be pressed, the operational panelcontrol routine judges whether an operational flag is set or not (stepS2117).

If the operational flag is set, the operational panel control routinejudges a necessary order to execute an operational step corresponding tothe pressed button was already delivered. The operational panel controlroutine returns to step S2108 so as to continue watching touchedpressure data and touched position data received from the remote controldevice 2.

If the operational flag is not set yet, it is set (step S2118). In thisstage, since the operation corresponding to the pressed button is notexecuted yet, color and character display of the pressed button arefurther changed (in FIG. 14 the pressed button is surrounded by afringed frame) for a predetermined period so as to recognize the TVviewer that the operation should be executed. At the same time, arecognition sound is outputted to the sound control unit 105 to generatethe sound (step S2119) and a corresponding execution order istransmitted to the system control unit 110 (step S2120).

Then the operational panel control routine returns to step S2108 so asto continue watching touched pressure data and touched position datareceived from the remote control device 2.

When the pressure change is decided that the finger is pressingdownward, the operational flag is cleared (step S2121), and theoperational panel control routine returns to step S2108 so as tocontinue watching data touched pressure data and touched position datareceived from the remote control device 2.

When the pressure change is decided that the finger is released (stepS2110), the focusing operation in the operational panel is stopped (stepS2111), and the operational panel control routine returns to step S2103so as to allocate the whole area of the track pad to the operationalpanel area.

When the pressure change is decided that the finger touches the sameposition on the track pad, the operational panel control routine returnsto step S2108 so as to continue watching data on touched pressure dataand touched position data received from the remote control device 2.

As described above, a desired TV channel can be selected as the fingerbeing touched, moved and pressed on the track pad.

FIG. 14 shows a moment when the TV channel has changed from channel 1 tochannel 12 by pressing track pad as shown in FIG. 13C. Immediately afterbutton 12 is pressed, a smooth oval circle surrounding button 12 ischanged to fringed oval circle.

Hereinafter a new operational panel for the VTR set 3, which is longerthan the TV channel selecting panel in its horizontal direction.

Firstly a TV viewer recognizes the VTR icon as shown at the lower leftcorner of FIG. 10 which indicates the VTR set 3 is connected to the TVset 1. Then the TV viewer presses the VTR button of the remote controldevice shown in FIG. 5 so that corresponding key data to the VTR buttonto are transmitted to the remote control signal receiving unit 109 inthe TV set 1.

When the system control unit 110 in the TV set 1 detects the receivedkey data, the system control unit 110 controls the 1394I/F 107 toinstruct the VTR set 3 to transmit a VTR operational panel.

The VTR set 3 transmits the VTR operational panel to the TV set 1according to the instruction.

The TV set 1 receives the VTR operational panel, which is stored in thememory unit 111 temporally and is also outputted to the image controlunit 103. The image control unit 103 controls the display unit 104 todisplay the VTR operational panel as a synthesized image with acurrently displayed image and activates the VTR operational.

FIG. 15 shows the display unit 104 where the VTR operational panel isdisplayed.

The VTR operational panel is divided into two parts, the upper and lowerparts. The upper part consists of only a replay button. The lower partis divided into five buttons for recording, rewinding, stopping,fast-forwarding and temporally stopping. That is why the VTR operatingpanel is longer than the TV channel selecting panel in its horizontaldirection.

FIG. 16 shows the constitution of the VTR operational panel.

The VTR operational panel is also operated in accordance with steps ofthe operational panel control routine in the flow chart shown in FIG.21.

The operational panel control routine watches whether the operationalpanel is activated or not (step S2102) in the same way as the TV channelselecting panel. When the operational control routine detects that theVTR operational panel is activated, the operational panel controlroutine allocates the VTR operational panel to the whole area of thetrack pad as shown in FIG. 17M so that the track pad is divided intoupper and lower parts, further the lower part is divided into 5 parts.Thus respective divided parts are related to elements of the VTRoperational panel.

A relational table between the operational panel and track pad as shownin FIG. 17M, is generated.

The operational panel control routine watches whether the track pad istouched or not (step S2104).

When the track pad is touched by a finger of the TV viewer, the remotecontrol signal receiving unit 109 receives touched pressure data andtouched position data transmitted from the remote control device 2. Theoperational panel control routine in the system control unit 110 detectsa touched position based on the received touched position data, refersto the relational table between the operational panel and the track padand determines a corresponding button in the operational panel (stepS2105).

The corresponding button is focused (step S2106).

When position N shown in FIG. 17M is touched, the “replay” button isfocused as shown in FIG. 17N. When position P is touched, the “rewind”button is focused as shown in FIG. 17P and when position Q is touched,the “temporal stop” button is focused as shown in FIG. 17Q.

Buttons in the VTR operational panel are re-allocated to the track padso as to utilize the track pad area as large as possible by keeping therelation between the VTR operational panel and the track pad as before(step S2107).

Since the VTR operational panel is long in horizontal direction comparedwith the track pad, operational areas in the track pad are allocated invertically compressed states as shown in FIGS. 17M, N, P and Q.

Before the track pad is touched, the whole area of the track pad isactivated as the operational area as shown in FIG. 17M. However, oncethe track pad is touched on position N, P or Q, a portion of the trackpad is activated as the operational area as shown in FIGS. 17N, P and Qand the relational table between the operational panel and the track padis changed.

The track pad is re-allocated, when a finger is moved outside theoperational area of the track pad.

The operational panel control routine watches the touched pressure dataand the touched position data received from the remote control device 2so as to detect whether the touching finger is moved, presses a button,released or kept its position as it is (steps S2108, S2109 and S2110).

When the operational panel control routine decides the touching fingeris moved, a currently touched position of the track pad is detectedbased on position data (step S2112).

As shown in FIG. 18R, when the finger touching position P is movedleftward to position R as the finger kept touching the track pad, afocused button in the VTR operational panel is also shifted from the“rewind” button to the “record” button.

In the same way, when the finger touching position P is moved upward toposition S as the finger kept touching the track pad, a focused buttonin the VTR operational panel is also shifted from the “rewind” button tothe “replay” button as shown in FIG. 18S.

Since the track pad is re-allocated at step S2107 as well as therelational table between the operational panel and the track pad as theshape of the allocated area of the track pad being kept similar to theVTR operational panel, respective moving distances from position P toposition R and from position P to position S can be set equal.

The operational control routine decides whether the currently touchedposition is in an operational area of the VTR operational panel or notbased on the relational table between the operational panel and thetrack pad (step S2113). When decided in the operational area, thecorresponding button in the VTR operational panel is focused.

When the operational panel control routine decides touched position isout of the operational area, the operational panel is re-allocated inthe same way in the above-mentioned step S2107 (step S2114).

FIG. 18T corresponds to the above-mentioned status where the touchedposition T moved from position P is out of the operational area. In thiscase, if the focused button is dragged upward immediately before thetouched finger is moved out of the operational area allocated at stepS2107, the track pad is re-allocated such that the touched position isallocated to the replay button of the VTR operational panel.

Thus the operational control routine can handle even in a case when thetouching finger is intended to move from position P (rewind) to positionS (replay), but moved to position T out of the operational area.

The corresponding button in the VTR operational panel is focused (stepS2115).

When a pressure change on the track pad is detected, a status is judgedwhether the finger is pressing downward or releasing (step S2116). Whenthe focused button is decided to be pressed, the operational controlroutine decides whether an operational flag is set or not (step S2117).

If the operational flag is set, the operational panel control routinejudges a necessary order to execute an operational step corresponding tothe pressed button was already delivered. The operational panel controlroutine returns to step S2108 so as to continue watching touchedpressure data and touched position data received from the remote controldevice 2.

If the operational flag is not set yet, it is set (step S2118). In thisstage, since the operation corresponding to the pressed button is notexecuted, color and character display of the pressed button are furtherchanged (a pressed button is surrounded by a fringed frame as shown inFIG. 19) for a predetermined period so that the TV viewer can recognizethe operation should be executed. At the same time, a recognition soundis outputted to the sound control unit 105 to generate the sound stepS2119) and a corresponding execution order is transmitted to the systemcontrol unit 110 (step S2120).

Then the operational panel control routine returns to step S2108 so asto continue watching touched pressure data and touched position datareceived from the remote control device 2.

When the pressure change is judged that the finger is pressing downward(step S2116), the operational flag is cleared (step S2121), and theoperational panel control routine returns to step S2108 so as tocontinue watching touched pressure data and touched position datareceived from the remote control device 2.

When the pressure change is judged that the finger is released, thefocusing operation in the operational panel is stopped (step S2111), andthe operational panel control routine returns to step S2103 so as toallocate the whole area of the track pad to the operational panel area.

When the finger is judged to touch the same position on the track pad,the operational panel control routine returns to step S2108 so as tocontinue watching the touched pressure data and touched position datareceived from the remote control device 2.

As described above, a desired VTR operation can be selected as thefinger being touched, moved and pressed on the track pad.

As described above, when an operational panel button is moved by thefinger, moving speeds on the operational panel in horizontal andvertical directions are attained equal, even the VTR operational panelis long in the horizontal direction.

However, if the allocated track pad is kept as shown in FIG. 17M, whereallocated areas are longer in the vertical direction, a short fingermovement in the horizontal direction can move a focused button, while alonger finger movement is required to move the focused button in thevertical direction. As a result, finger movements on the track pad cannot match visual button movements on the VTR operational panel.

Even when the finger is moved out of the allocated operational area setby step S2107, operational steps can be continued by shifting the wholeoperational area.

Embodiment 2

In the present embodiment, an operational area of the track pad shown inFIG. 20F, which is not similar to the shape of the track pad as inembodiment 1 and is not rectangular in its shape, is explained.

As described in Embodiment 1, when a rectangular operational panel isrelated to the track pad, the finger is not moved out of the operationalarea, even if the finger is moved to positions at ends as shown in FIGS.17N and Q. When the operational panel formed as shown in FIG. 20F isactivated, a relational table between the operational panel and thetrack pad corresponding to a track pad allocation map shown in FIG. 20Fis generated.

When a position G on the track pad is touched, the relational tablebetween the operational table and the track pad is changed to a newtable corresponding to a track pad allocation shown in FIG. 20G.

When the finger is moved from position G to position H as shown in FIG.20H, the finger is moved out of the operational area because of thesimilarity between the operational panel and the operational area on thetrack pad. Then the relational table between the operational panel andthe track pad is changed to a new relational table corresponding to atrack pad allocation FIG. 20J.

Embodiment 3

As explained in the case of the VTR operational panel in embodiment 1,when the operational panel is not similar to the track pad, therelational table between the operational panel and the track pad isgenerated and changed in accordance with moved positions of the fingerso as to keep the similarity between the operational panel and theoperational area of the track pad. However, the operational area of thetrack pad may be fixed by the system control unit 110 beforehand.

The case of the fixed operational area of the track pad is explained asreferring to FIGS. 22 and 23.

When the system control unit 110 detects the VTR operational panel isactivated as shown in FIG. 22, based on the operational panel data thesystem control unit allocates the track pad as shown in FIG. 23U askeeping the similarity between the operational panel the operationalarea of the track pad. The allocated area of the track pad is dividedinto upper part and lower part, the lower part is further divided into 5parts in a horizontal direction, which correspond to the button elementsof the operational panel respectively. Remaining other parts of thetrack pad are kept as inactive areas.

A relational table between the operational panel and track pad as shownin FIG. 23U is generated.

Active areas and inactive areas of the track pad are displayed in theoperational panel as shown in FIG. 22.

Thus a TV viewer can recognize approximate positions of active areas ofthe track pad.

When the TV viewer touches position V in FIG. 23U, since the position Vis on the active area and corresponds to the rewind button of theoperational panel, the rewind button in the operational panel is focusedas shown in FIG. 23V.

When the TV viewer touches position W, since the position W is in theinactive area, a warning alarm is generated as shown in FIG. 23W.

In the above-described embodiments, the display unit arranged in the TVset is employed as a display means, but a stand alone type display meansis also employable.

Embodiment 4

The present embodiment is explained as referring to drawings.

A case when a TV viewer (same as the remote control device user) selectsa desired TV channel, is explained firstly.

FIGS. 31 to 33 are flow charts showing control steps of the operationalpanel in embodiment 4.

When the TV button of the remote control device shown in FIG. 6 ispressed so as to select a desired TV channel, key data corresponding tothe pressed button is transmitted from the remote control device 2 tothe remote control signal receiving unit 109 in the TV set 1.

When the system control unit 110 in the TV set 1 detects the key data,the TV channel selecting panel is read out from the memory unit 111 andoutputted to the image control unit 103. The image control unit 103controls the display unit 104 to display the TV channel selecting panelas a synthesized image with a currently displayed TV image so that theTV channel selecting panel is activated.

FIG. 24 shows a displayed image in the screen of the TV set 1 in thesystem shown in FIG. 1. The displayed image (showing a man and a car) isan image from a TV program from channel 1 indicated at a left belowcorner in FIG. 24 combined with the TV channel selecting panel. A VTRicon is displayed at right below corner in FIG. 24, which indicates thatthe VTR set 3 is switched on.

As shown in FIGS. 25A, B and C, the TV channel selecting panel has amatrix with 3 rows and 4 lines, where numeric buttons from 1 to 12 arearranged, having the same length/width ration as the track pad.

In an operating mode selecting routine shown in FIG. 31, the operationalpanel control routine in the system control unit 110 watches whether theoperational panel is activated or not (step S3102). When the operationalpanel control routine detects the TV channel selecting panel isactivated, the whole area of the track pad is allocated to the TVchannel selecting panel as shown in FIG. 25B based on position data ofeach element of the TV channel selecting panel. A relational tablebetween the operational panel and track pad as shown in FIG. 25C isgenerated (step S3103).

The operational panel control routine decides a suitable mode for thetrack pad: a fixed mode for allocating the whole operational panel tothe track pad or a mixed mode with scroll operations (step S3104).

In the present embodiment, when the operational panel has a largermatrix than a matrix with 4 rows by 5 lines, the mixed mode is selected.Since the TV channel selecting panel has the matrix with 3 rows by 4lines, the fixed mode is employed (step S3106).

When scroll operations are necessary, the operational panel controlroutine selects the mixed mode (step S3105).

As shown in FIG. 32, a fixed mode routine watches whether track pad datatransmitted from the remote control device are changed or not (stepS3201).

When a finger of the user touches the track pad, touched pressure dataand touched position data from the remote control device 2 are receivedby the remote control signal receiving unit 109. The operational panelcontrol routine in the system control unit 110 detects whether the trackpad is touched by the finger and the like or not (step S3202).

When the operational panel control routine confirms the track pad istouched, it detects a touched position of the track pad based on theposition data (step S3203).

Based on the relational table between the operational panel and thetrack pad, a corresponding button of the operational panel is determinedand changed its color and character display (hereinafter referred asfocusing) so that the user can recognized the touched positioncorresponding to the selected button. Thus the user can confirm afocused element of the operational panel (step S3204).

When area 12 of the track pad shown in FIG. 25B is touched, element “12”of the operational panel is focused as shown in FIG. 24.

When the operational panel control routine decides the touching fingeris released, it watches whether the track pad is touched again or notfor a determined period (until a time out) (step S3211). When the trackpad is touched within the time out, the operational panel controlroutine returns to step S3202 and continues watching touched pressuredata and touched position data transmitted from the remote controldevice 2.

When the track pad is not touched within the predetermined period, theoperational panel control routine decides the time is out, stopsfocusing (step S3213) and returns to step S3101 of the operating modeselecting routine shown in FIG. 31 (step S3213).

The operational panel control routine watches touched pressure datareceived from the remote control device 2 and detects a pressure changewhether one of the TV channel selecting buttons is pressed or not (stepS3205).

When the pressure change on the track pad is detected, the operationalpanel control routine judges whether the finger is being presseddownward or being released (step S3221). When the operational controlroutine decides the focused button is pressed, it judges whether anoperational flag is set or not (step S3222).

If the operational flag is set, the operational panel control routinedecides a necessary order to execute an operation corresponding to thepressed button is delivered. The operational panel control routinereturns to step S3202 so as to continue watching touched pressure dataand touched position data received from the remote control device 2.

If the operational flag is not set yet, the operational flag is set(step S3223). In this stage, since the operation corresponding to thepressed button is not executed, color and character display of thepressed button are further changed for a predetermined period so thatthe operator can recognize the operational step should be executed. Atthe same time, a recognition sound is outputted to the sound controlunit 105 to generate the sound (step S3224) and a correspondingexecution order is transmitted to the system control unit 110 (stepS3225).

Then the operational panel control routine returns to step S3202 andcontinues watching touched pressure data and touched position datareceived from the remote control device 2.

When the operational control routine judges the finger is presseddownward based on the pressure change, the operational flag is cleared(step S3231). Then the operational panel control routine returns to stepS3202 so as to continue watching touched pressure data and touchedposition data received from the remote control device 2.

Thus a desired TV channel can be selected by a finger which touches thetrack pad and is moved to a desired position and is pressed thereon.

Hereinafter inputting operations by a displayed keyboard panelconsisting of matrix with 5 lines by 14 to 15 rows, namely by a virtualkeyboard as shown in FIG. 26, are explained.

FIG. 27 shows the constitution of the keyboard operational panel.

Operational steps by the keyboard operational panel are executed inaccordance with the flow chart of the operational panel control routineshown in FIG. 31.

In the operating mode selecting routine shown in FIG. 31, theoperational panel control routine in the system control unit 110 watcheswhether the operational panel is activated or not (step S3102) in thesame way as in the TV channel selecting panel. When the operationalpanel control routine detects the keyboard panel is activated, acorresponding area of the track pad is divided into a matrix with 5lines by 14 to 15 rows allocated to each key element of the keyboardpanel as shown in FIG. 28B based on position data of each element of thekeyboard panel. A relational table between the operational panel andtrack pad as shown in FIG. 28C is generated (step S3103)

Since the shape of the keyboard panel is horizontally long, inactiveareas 99 are formed in the track pad as shown in FIG. 28B.

The operational panel control routine decides whether it is suitable tokeep the allocated state where the whole operational panel is allocatedto the track pad, or not (step S3104).

Since the keyboard panel has 14 to 15 rows, the mixed mode with scrolloperations is selected (step S3105).

FIG. 33 is the flow chart showing control steps of the operational panelcontrolled by the mixed mode with scroll operations.

In the mixed mode, the track pad data transmitted from the remotecontrol device are watched inside the system control unit 110 (stepS3301) in the same way as in the fixed mode.

In the mixed mode with scroll operations, the operational panel controlroutine also watches whether the track pad is touched or not (stepS3302).

When the track pad is touched by a user, touched pressure data andtouched position data from the remote control device 2 are received bythe remote control signal receiving unit 109. The operational panelcontrol routine in the system control unit 110 detects whether the trackpad is touched by a finger and the like or not (step S3202).

When the operational panel control routine confirms the track pad istouched, it detect a touched position of the track pad based on therelational table between the operational panel and the track padgenerated at step S3103 in FIG. 31 (step S3303). Key elements consistingof 5 to 6 rows by 4 lines around a key element corresponding to thetouched position on the track pad are allocated to the track pad basedon touched position data. Scroll areas are set around the allocated keyelements on the track pad and the relational table between theoperational panel and the track pad is changed.

Since a displayed key group is situated in the middle of the keyboardpanel in the case of FIG. 29A, scroll areas can be set at respectiveends of the track pad. However, in the cases of FIGS. 29B and C, sincekey groups are situated at one or two of the ends of the keyboard panel,scroll area can not be set at such ends (step S3304).

The operational panel control routine referred to the changed relationaltable between the operational panel and the track pad and decides acorresponding key button on the keyboard panel, and the correspondingbutton is focused (step S3305).

The operational panel control routine again watches data change on thetrack pad transmitted from the remote control device 2 (step S3306).

The system control unit 110 detects whether the track pad is stilltouched by the finger or not (step S3307).

When the operational panel control routine decides the touching fingeris released, it watches whether the track pad is touched again or notfor a determined period (until a time out) (step S3321). When the trackpad is touched within the time out, the operational panel controlroutine returns to step S3306 and continues watching touched pressuredata and touched position data transmitted from the remote controldevice 2.

When the track pad is not touched within the predetermined period, theoperational panel control routine decides the time is out, stopsfocusing (step S3322) and returns to step S3101 of the operating modeselecting routine shown in FIG. 31 according to an instruction in stepS3323.

When the operational panel control routine decides track pad is touched,it detects a touched position (step S3308) based on position data andthe relational table between the operational panel and the track padgenerated at step S3304.

The operational panel control routine decides whether the touchedposition is in one of the scroll areas or not (step S3309). If thetouching finger is in the scroll area, a moved direction of the fingeris calculated based on currently detected and previously detectedposition data. When the scroll mode is continued, key elements of thekeyboard panel are re-allocated to the track pad in every predeterminedperiod and the relational table between the operational panel and thetrack pad is changed (step S3331).

The corresponding key button of the keyboard panel is determined basedon the relational table between the operational panel and the track pad,and the corresponding key button is focused (step S3310).

If the finger touches a position outside the scroll areas, theoperational panel control routine, which stays at step S3310, watchestouched pressure data received from the remote control device 2 anddetects a touched pressure change to decide whether a key button in thekeyboard panel is pressed or not (step S3311).

When the pressure change on the track pad is detected, the operationalpanel control routine judges whether the finger is being presseddownward or released (step S3341). When the operational panel controlroutine decides the focused button is pressed, it judges whether anoperational flag is set or not (step S3342).

If the operational flag is set, the operational panel control routinedecides an instruction to press the corresponding button is executed,and it returns to step S3306 so as to continue watching touched pressuredata and touched position data received from the remote control device2.

If the operational flag is not set yet, the operational flag is set(step S3343). In this stage, since the operation corresponding to thepressed button is not executed yet, color and character display of thepressed button are further changed for a predetermined period so thatthe TV viewer can recognize the selected operation is going to beexecuted. At the same time, a recognition sound is outputted to thesound control unit 105 to generate the sound (step S3344) and acorresponding execution order is transmitted to the system control unit110 (step S3345).

Then the operational panel control routine returns to step S3306 andcontinues watching touched pressure data and touched position datareceived from the remote control device 2.

When the operational panel control routine decides the finger is presseddownward based on the pressure change, the operational flag is cleared(step S3351). And the operational panel control routine returns to stepS3306 so as to continue watching touched pressure data and touchedposition data received from the remote control device 2.

Thus a desired character can be inputted when a finger touching on thetrack pad is moved to a desired position on the track pad and pressedthereon.

FIGS. 30A, B, C and D are views for explaining steps to selectcharacters “T” and “O” by utilizing the keyboard operational panel.

At first a remote control device user touches a position supposed to becharacter “T” on the allocated track pad as shown in FIG. 28B, butactually the user touches character “R” (see FIG. 30A). Then the keybutton “R” in the displayed keyboard panel is focused, and the track padis reallocated as shown in a drawing in the middle of FIG. 30A, at thesame time the relational table between the operational panel is alsochanged from FIG. 28C to a table in the right side of FIG. 30A,according to a series of steps from S3301 to S3305.

When the touching finger is moved, a focused position in the keyboardpanel is changed to key button “T” by repeating a series of steps fromS3306 to S3311 in FIG. 33 (see FIG. 30B).

At this stage, if the user presses the track pad, a pressed state isdetected according to step S3311 in FIG. 33 and character “T” isinputted according to a series steps from S3341 to S3345.

When the touching finger is moved rightward so as to focus character“O”, a focused position in the keyboard panel is changed to character“Y” and to character “U”. Since, as shown in FIG. 30B, key button “O” isnot allocated in the track pad, character “O” is not focused. When thetouching finger is further moved rightward and is reached the right endof the track pad, the finger is moved in the scroll area. After thetrack pad is re-allocated and at the same time the relational tablebetween the operational panel and the track pad are changed twice asshown in FIGS. 30C and D according to step S3331, character “O” isfocused.

If the touching finger is moved leftward a little bit to key button “O”(see FIG. 30D) at a time when character “O” is focused or when thetouching finger is released from the track pad temporally, a focusedposition is stopped on the key button “O”.

When the same position on the track pad is pressed, the operationalpanel control routine detects the corresponding key button is pressedaccording to step S3311 and character “O” is inputted according to aseries of steps from S3341 to S3345.

If the touching finger is not pressed or not released, the keyboardpanel is further scrolled and character “P” is focused. However, if thetouching finger is moved leftward a little bit, the focused position canbe easily returned to character “O”.

Even the numbers of the key buttons in the operational panel are quitedifferent as shown in FIG. 25A and FIG. 28A, moving operations by thefinger on the track pad can be operated in the same feeling byre-allocating the operational panel to the track pad as mentioned above.

However, if the track pad is kept in the initial state where the wholeoperational panel is allocated to the track pad, operational feelingsare different in respective operational panels. Particularly in the caseof the operational panel shown in FIG. 28A, the moving rate of the keybutton is felt too high to handle.

Embodiment 5

Hereinafter, TV program selecting operations through a displayedelectronic program table (hereinafter referred as “EPG”) utilized forselecting and inspecting TV programs, are explained.

EPG data are received from the antenna 4 of the TV set 1 together withimage data and sound data and separated by the decoder unit 102 andstored in the memory unit 111.

The EPG data are files in which program data such as dates, times,channels, program titles, program genres, performers, contents and thelike are written as shown in FIG. 34.

The EPG data are displayed as shown in FIG. 35. However, since the wholeEPG data are too large to display at once, the EPG data are partiallydisplayed and displayed data are renewed by scroll operations.

Since other display operations by utilizing menu keys in menu panels arenot directly related to the present invention, further explanations areomitted.

When an EPG button shown in FIG. 6 is pressed so as to display an EPGpanel, key data corresponding to the pressed button are transmitted fromthe remote control device 2 to the remote control signal receiving unit109 of the TV set 1.

When the system control unit 110 in the TV set 1 detects the key data,required data for displaying the EPG data are read out from the memoryunit 111. And EPG panel data are constituted, stored in the systemcontrol unit 110 and at the same time outputted to the image controlunit 103, which instructs the display unit 104 to activate the EPG panelby combining a currently displayed image in the display unit.

FIG. 36 shows a partially displayed EPG panel derived from FIG. 35 inthe display unit of the TV set 1. FIG. 37 is the table showing theconstitution of the EPG panel. The EPG panel consists of ID numbers,displayed sizes, positions, displayed data and the like of therespective programs.

In addition scroll data are also included in the table in FIG. 37.

Operations of the EPG panel are also executed based on the flow chartsin FIGS. 31 and 33.

In the same way as embodiment 4, when the operational panel controlroutine detects the EPG panel is activated, the whole EPG panel shown inFIG. 36 is allocated to the whole area of the track pad based on the EPGpanel constitution data including corresponding ID numbers to respectiveareas of the track pad, and a relational table between the operationalpanel and the track pad is generated.

The operational panel control routine decides whether it is suitable toallocate the whole EPG panel to the whole area of the track pad or notaccording to step 3104 in FIG. 31. The operational panel control routinealso decides whether number of the divided areas on the track pad arelarger than a specified number or not, or whether a scroll mode isrequired or not so as to display a different portion of the EPG panelfrom the currently displayed portion of the EPG panel. Obviouslyoperations of the EPG panel require the scroll mode.

When the finger touches a position on the track pad shown in FIG. 38A, aTV program PGM-C in the EPG panel is focused. A framed area around thefocused point in FIG. 36A is allocated to the operational area of thetrack pad and a peripheral area around the operational area of the trackpad is allocated as a scroll area. And the relational table between theoperational panel and the track pad is changed (according to steps fromS3301 to S3305 in FIG. 33).

When the touching finger is moved in vertical directions (up/down) or inhorizontal directions (left/right) on the track pad as shown in FIG.38B, focused positions in the EPG panel are shifted from PGM-C to PGM-U,PGM-D, PGM-L or PGM-R.

When the touching finger is moved further downward to the scroll area ofthe track pad, the operational area of the track pad is changed so thatthe operational area in the EPG panel is shifted to a framed area of theEPG panel as shown in FIG. 39A. The focused position is changed fromPGM-D to PGM-FD1 and the relational table between the operational paneland the track pad is also changed so as to correspond to the frame areain FIG. 39A (according to steps from S3306 to S3331 in FIG. 33).

When the touching finger further touches the scroll area, theoperational panel control routine finally decides EPG panel data do notexist anymore in the downward direction in step S3309 in FIG. 33.

The operational panel control routine detects scroll data in the EPGpanel and requires to change EPG panel data. Then the system controlunit changes the current EPG panel data to new EPG panel data as shownin FIG. 40A and the relational table between the operational panel andthe track pad is also changed.

When the focus operation is executed, the focused panel element isshifted from PGM-FD1, to PGM-FD2 and further to PGM-FD3 according tostep S3310 as shown in FIG. 40A.

As described above, an operational panel such as the EPG panel, which istoo large to display in one screen, can be operated by the presentinvention.

The above-described preferred embodiments are merely exemplary of thepresent invention and are not construed to limit the scope of thepresent invention.

The scope of the present invention is defined by the scope of theappended claims, and is not limited to only the specific descriptions inthis specification. Furthermore, all modifications and changes belongingto equivalents of the claims are considered to fall within the scope ofthe present invention.

1. A remote control device comprising: an operational panel foroperating an electronic device; a display means for displaying saidoperational panel; a truck pad means for inputting position data and/orcontact pressure data acquired through a plane sensor equipped in saidtrack pad means by touching and moving a finger on said truck pad means;an allocating means for allocating the acquired position data by saidtrack pad means to corresponding positions of said operational panel; anoperation control means for operating said operational panel based onthe acquired position data by said track pad and/or the acquiredcorresponding position data by said allocating means, wherein: when thecorresponding positions of the operational panel are allocated to saidtrack pad means, corresponding positions on said track pad means aredecided based on a shape of said operational panel; and said allocatingmeans is operated in accordance with the contact pressure data.
 2. Theremote control device according to claim 1, wherein: when thecorresponding positions of the operational panel are allocated to saidtrack pad means, corresponding positions on said track pad means aredecided based on the shape of said operational panel and a position onsaid track pad means firstly touched.
 3. The remote control deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein: when the corresponding positions of theoperational panel are allocated to said track pad means, correspondingpositions of said track pad means are determined such that a shape of anoperational area of said track pad means after allocated is set similarto the shape of said operational panel.
 4. The remote control meansaccording to claim 1, wherein: when the corresponding positions of theoperational panel are allocated to said track pad means, correspondingpositions on said track pad means are determined as a length/width ratioof said track pad means is kept same as that of said operational panel.5. The remote control means according to claim 1, wherein: an operationof said operational panel is executed based on a pressure change on saidtrack pad means.
 6. The remote control device according to claim 1,wherein: an effective sound is generated in accordance with a pressurechange on said track pad means.
 7. The remote control device accordingto claim 1, wherein: said allocating means is a fixed mode forallocating corresponding positions of the whole or partial area of saidoperational panel to said track pad means or a scroll mode for shiftingfrom said fix mode when a specified position of said track pad means istouched.
 8. The remote control device according to claim 7, wherein:said allocating means includes an allocating means with a combined modeemploying said fixed mode and said scroll mode.
 9. The remote controldevice according to claim 8, wherein: said allocating means has aswitching means for switching said allocating means with said combinedmode in accordance with said contact pressure data.
 10. A remote controldevice having: a track pad unit; an operational panel forremote-controlling an electronics device; and a control means forcontrolling said operational panel in accordance with position dataacquired by said track pad unit.